Teenage girl pleads guilty to multiple suicide attempts

SINGAPORE: A teenage girl on Wednesday pleaded guilty to three attempts of suicide.

Seven other similar charges were taken into consideration.

The court heard 18—year—old Kathleen Seah Pei Yi tried to kill herself on 10 occasions — from overdosing on Panadol tablets, to swallowing broken mirror pieces and even inhaling gas fumes.

The district judge has ordered a probation and pre—sentence report.

Seah, who is unemployed, has been diagnosed with mild mental retardation.

She tried to take her life several times between September 2011 and May 2012.

On August 2011, Seah ingested 20 "Panadol Extra" tablets before meeting her friend at Bishan library.

She was later sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital after she said she was not feeling well.

One month later, Seah was found sitting on a ledge on the third floor of a flat at Kim Keat Avenue.

She repeated the act on another occasion within the same month.

She was then stopped by her father, a truck driver.

Seah, who has since been remanded at the Institute of Mental Health, told the court that she would not do it again.

She will be sentenced on 8 August.

Her father, who turned up in court, told Channel NewsAsia that he had been unable to deal with his daughter for some time.

In Singapore, a person who attempts to commit suicide can be imprisoned for up to one year, fined or both.

— CNA/ck